Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 17 January 2024
155. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence if the total share of the €500 million provided under the EU Act in Support of Ammunition Production Regulation will be used to provide direct supply of ammunition to Ukraine; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57055/23]
View answer156. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence if the EU Act in Support of Ammunition Production Regulation will provide €500 million to subsidise the EU arms industry and Ireland will be contributing through the EU budget to this funding despite the fact that Irish companies are unlikely to benefit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57056/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 155 and 156 together.
In early 2023, the Council of the European Union agreed to task the European Commission to present concrete proposals to urgently support the ramping-up of manufacturing capacities of the European defence industry, secure supply chains, facilitate efficient procurement procedures, address shortfalls in production capacities and promote investments, including, where appropriate, mobilising the Union budget.
In response to this tasking, the Commission proposed a Regulation, the Act in Support of Ammunition Production (ASAP), to support the European Union’s industry to ramp-up its production capacities in ammunition and missiles. The objective of ASAP is to support and accelerate the immediate ramp-up of production capacity of ammunition and missiles in the EU. It will therefore directly support manufacturers of these defence products, as well as their supply chains.
The proposal, therefore, aims to meet the urgent needs of Member States and ensure that the Defence Industry in Europe can deliver to Member States what they need, not only for their own training and activities but also in order to continue to support Ukraine. The timely availability in sufficient volumes of these products is critical for the EU’s security and for its continuous efforts to support Ukraine. Ireland will continue to constructively abstain from the supply of lethal equipment to Ukraine in line with the Programme for Government.
The ASAP was adopted and came into force in July 2023. In October 2023 the ASAP work programme was adopted and calls for proposals were issued. Financial support from the ASAP will be funded through an allocation of a budget of €500 million from the European Commission, to be achieved through the redistribution of funds from existing allocations of the MFF budget. The Commission’s €500m will be matched with co-financing of around €500 million from Member States and other sources.
Member States will have the option to contribute matching funding through the use of their national allocations from other EU funding sources. The budget does not anticipate a direct call for national contributions. There is also no obligation on Member States to provide matching funding and it is not proposed that Ireland would reallocate any of its EU funding to the ASAP.
Finally, it is important to note that our own Defence Forces also require a regular supply of ammunition for training and operations, and therefore that any ramping-up of production will therefore ultimately be beneficial to the Defence Forces.
